


The Magical Tale of One Man and His Dog

by snakeowls



Series: One Man and His Dog [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Children's Stories, Community: rs_games, Established Relationship, Everybody Lives, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, R/S Games 2017, Teacher Remus Lupin, Teacher Sirius Black, Therapy dog Padfoot, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-19 06:09:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12404634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snakeowls/pseuds/snakeowls
Summary: R/S Games 2017 - Day 17 - Team RemusOnce upon a time a wizard fell through a veil and was reunited with his love.  This is the tale of what happened after.  A sort of bedtime story about stories, a second chance at life and happy endings.





	The Magical Tale of One Man and His Dog

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my beta Wild Bea, this story would not have been the same without you. Thanks also to GoodFrith who gave me the idea to write this, and the rest of Team Aww for the help and motivation.
> 
> Written for R/S Games 2017 prompt #92 - photo of an elderly man walking a large black dog.  
> 

Once upon a time there was a man called Sirius Black. He was born in a big hidden house in London and when he was old enough he went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Once he left school Sirius was betrayed by his friend and went to Azkaban, and you all know how the rest of that story goes. Years later at the Ministry of Magic he fell through the veil, but maybe what you don’t know is that he spun and turned and tumbled through the other side and landed with a bump back in 1981.

But this story isn’t just about him. It’s mostly about his boyfriend Remus Lupin who was kind and thoughtful and also a werewolf. But don’t let that scare you, he was only frightening one night a month, the rest of the time he was lovely as can be! Remus was born on a farm near Dublin and was bitten by a werewolf just before his fifth birthday. He went to Hogwarts with Sirius and after they left school they shared a flat in London and together they fought in the War along with their friends.

On the night that Sirius returned to the past Remus was in bed fast asleep dreaming about Moony and Padfoot chasing sheep when he was woken by Sirius shaking him, babbling something about a veil and telling Remus that he looked young, so young. Remus sat up and squinted at him, his eyes trying to adjust to the wand-light that Sirius was pointing at him, then came to with panic in his voice, “Mpfh, what’s wrong, love? Death Eaters?”

“No, it’s you! And we’re here!” Sirius waved his wand around their bedroom, lighting up piles of clothes and books and his old familiar The Clash poster on the wall, “We were at the Ministry!”

Remus looked at him, confused for a moment, then it seemed to click. “Bad dream? Come here.” He opened his arms wide and Sirius crawled back into bed, tentatively at first, until he felt the warmth radiating from Remus and cuddled in towards his chest.

When Sirius finally calmed down and told Remus about falling through the veil and snippets from the life that had led up to it, Remus thought that Sirius had finally cracked; succumbed to that crazy Black gene and gone the way of his big bad cousin Bellatrix. Sirius insisted that it was all true, that the veil had sent him back to right all the wrongs, and despite his common sense screaming otherwise, Remus believed him. After all, Sirius had never lied to him before, there would be no reason for him to start doing it now.

Over the next few days Remus focused all of his efforts on helping Sirius to adjust to being back in 1981, but from time to time he did think that it couldn’t be real and was convinced that Sirius was just drunk, and from time to time Sirius suspected that maybe he was. Sirius wondered why the veil chose this for him, perhaps it was to make up for those years in Azkaban, but he never told Remus about that part. It didn’t matter really, because it was happening and he could fix everything and have a life with Remus, and Sirius couldn’t have been happier. 

Sirius told Remus that the rumours of there being a spy in the Order were true; it was Peter and he would betray them all unless they stopped him. So that they did. They plotted to catch him in the act and followed him to a Death Eater safe house, tipped it off to the Ministry who raided the house and sent the Death Eaters, including Peter, to Azkaban. Sirius remained the Potters’ secret keeper and they stayed safely hidden out of the reach of Voldemort. 31st October came and went without incident and Harry was safe. Although they didn’t (and couldn’t) have any guisers visiting to show off their costumes and do their party piece, James and Lily dressed Harry up as a pumpkin and Sirius took lots of photos to show Remus who couldn’t be there because of the whole secret thing. Remus understood, besides there would be plenty of other Halloweens.

On the 5th November Dumbledore defeated Voldemort in what became known as the Battle of Blackfriars Bridge, aided by the Order and the Ministry. It was an epic fray and Remus and Sirius fought bravely side by side, whipping spells left and right and looking out for each other’s backs. After the celebrations everyone went back to their lives, somewhat battle-weary, but whole and happy and alive.

In the months after the War Remus and Sirius decided to leave London. Sirius said that there were too many bad memories for him there - although they were now no longer his memories, not really. Remus understood, or at least tried to, and would have done anything to keep his Sirius happy. So they sold their flat and moved to Dublin to be closer to Remus’s parents who were happy to have their son so near again. 

Back when they were at Hogwarts Sirius and James (and the other one, but we don’t speak of him) used to make fun of Remus for his studious ways and all those hours that he spent in the Library helping younger students, calling him ‘Professor Lupin’ and ‘Great Big Swot’ and other such names. Remus laughed it off, but secretly held hopes of becoming a teacher one day. The War had put all of those thoughts on hold, however now that life was turning back to normal it was time for Remus to think about their future again. Remus confessed his longings to Sirius and together they decided that Remus would have more work opportunities in the muggle world. With the help of some forged paperwork, and maybe a few carefully aimed confundus charms, Remus was accepted to a muggle university to train to be a primary school teacher while Sirius revelled in becoming a house husband, much to Remus’s surprise.

Remus spent three happy years at university where Sirius helped him with his classwork and kept him well hydrated with tea and well loved with cuddles. When Remus was stressed during exam time Sirius would floo to their favourite bakery in London and bring him home cakes and scones - he tried to make them himself once and almost set the kitchen on fire, so this was a much safer option.

After graduation Remus applied for a job in a little village on the west coast of Ireland where he had happy memories of childhood trips with his parents and long, often very wet, summers. The headmistress loved him, of course, and he started in an unseasonably warm September. He was very pleased to learn that he would be teaching the junior infants, a tiny little class of only seven pupils, and he loved teaching every single one. For every child who passed through his class Mr Lupin would always be their favourite teacher, looked back upon fondly in years to come.

A few months after he had begun teaching, Remus noticed that Sirius was beginning to tire of house husbandry - in fact Remus was surprised that he had lasted so long. As much as he tried to hide it, it was obvious to Remus that Sirius was bored and he hated to see his Sirius looking so lost, so he came up with a cunning plan. He had overheard the headmistress considering a therapy dog to help the children with their reading, a new initiative that had recently been introduced, and took great delight in telling her that he knew a dog who would be a perfect fit for the job. So he asked Sirius if Padfoot would like to come to school with him and it turned out that he would, very very much indeed.

Padfoot’s first day was on a wintery morning, the week before Christmas. Remus had warned him really rather sternly to be on his best behaviour so, being the good dog that he (sometimes) was, he strutted into class and plonked himself down next to Remus’s desk, head held high. There was a murmur of excitement and some squeals from the children, “Oh goodness, a doggy!”

Remus smiled down at Padfoot, who looked up at him with his tongue lolling out and a big doggy smile on his face, and addressed the class, “Good morning children.”

“Good morning Mr Lupin,” they chorused together, every pair of eyes focused on Padfoot and ignoring Remus completely.

“I see that you’ve noticed that we have a visitor today. This is Padfoot and he’ll be helping me for a while. Say hi, everybody.”

“Good morning Mr Padfoot.”

Remus’s face beamed with delight. “Ok class, first up today is alphabet practice. Can anyone think of anything that begins with the letter D?”

Almost everyone’s hands shot up in the air while Padfoot jumped up and down then twirled in a circle.

A couple of the children were hesitant with Mr Padfoot at first, but he sat nice and still and lowered his head to let them give him a pat. Soon enough all fear disappeared and class time with Mr Padfoot quickly became one of their favourite times of the day. The children particularly loved to read with Mr Lupin and Mr Padfoot, and Mr Padfoot was always very kind and patient listening to the stories while Mr Lupin read the tales with different voices for each character. Sometimes Mr Padfoot’s ears would flatten back against his head when they got to the scary bits and his tail always thumped on the ground at the happy endings. 

Sirius loved listening to Remus read, not only to the children in class, but also at home when he would read bits of the paper out loud - the ‘looking for love’ ads were Remus's particular favourite. Other times, when Remus was reading to himself, Sirius would ask him what he was finding so amusing, or what was making him so glum. Then Remus would read out a few choice paragraphs so Sirius could share the joke or sad moment. He was so happy to get to spend his days with Remus and watch him teach, he knew that the first time round teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts was one of the happiest times in Remus’s old life, and Sirius was grateful that he could share it with him now.

Just as equally, or perhaps more, Remus loved watching Padfoot with the children. After all, Sirius was really just a big kid at heart and was in his element in the classroom. Remus often looked over at him, lolling on his back, legs akimbo and allowing the children to rub his belly and tickle his fluffy paw hairs, and remember that Sirius never had this childhood, and Remus was so happy that Sirius got to experience it now. 

One day one of the children, Ciarán, came to school upset. His mummy had told him that his granny had gone to heaven and he would never see her again. Mr Lupin noticed Ciarán sniffling and wiping his eyes and nose with his sleeve in the playground before class began. He asked Ciarán what was wrong and comforted him, telling him that it would be ok, his own granny was up in heaven and he was sure that she’d make friends with Ciarán’s granny and they’d look after each other. Mr Padfoot was bounding around the playground playing tig with the children when he noticed Remus talking to Ciarán and skidded to a halt. He padded over to him and put his head in Ciarán’s lap and let him stroke his velvety ears until he stopped crying and felt ready to go off and play with the other children.

In Remus’s first few months as a teacher the children would draw Mr Lupin pictures during art time which he took home and stuck up on the fridge. He was very proud of his little gallery, however, once Mr Padfoot started coming to school, Mr Lupin found his own collection dwindle. Meanwhile, Mr Padfoot’s spot on the pantry door was filling up with drawings of big black dogs sparring with dragons and flying through the air on magical motorcycles with Mr Lupin in the sidecar. The motorbike picture was Remus’s favourite, but he would never let on to Sirius lest he got any ideas about Remus going anywhere near his flying deathtrap!

The children grew so used to having Mr Padfoot around that it was a shock to them when he wasn’t there, but sometimes Mr Padfoot had to go and help teachers at other schools too, or so Mr Lupin told them. In reality Sirius was at the local shops, flirting with the mums and that one dad, or visiting lovely old Mrs Murphy next door for a cup of tea and a chat. He was just trying to show face around the village a bit more after the villagers started to get suspicious about what he did cooped up at home all day. The villagers already gossiped enough about their ‘friendship’, but a few of the old ladies would always stop to ask Sirius about how “that lovely man of yours” was. “He’s so kind with my granddaughter,” they would say. “And she just loves that big dog of his.” So he knew that they were accepted, really. 

In 1989 Remus had a particularly bad time after the full moon, and was off school for a whole week. Until now the headmistress was happy to arrange cover for Remus during his monthly illnesses. She couldn't quite remember exactly what condition he had, but she knew that it was very unfortunate and Mr Lupin was such a kind soul and a wonderful teacher so she was happy to help him where she could. However, with his recovery from the full moons getting longer and longer Remus started to worry about the children, so together he and Sirius came up with a plan. And a real one this time, not like that one time back in Hogwarts where all their careful planning ended badly when Filch almost caught them in the kitchens and Remus and James had to sleep in the cupboard with the pots and pans, but enough said about that for now.

So when Remus was ill following the next full moon it was Sirius who substituted for him while he recovered. The headmistress was surprised to hear that Mr Black was also a teacher, according to her sister he was just a layabout who spent his days socialising, but his paperwork seemed to all be in order, so who was she to argue? Remus did feel guilty about this deception at first, but after so many years teaching alongside Mr Padfoot he trusted Sirius to stick to his carefully laid out lesson plans and knew that he was great with the children, so the guilt soon faded. Perhaps Professor McGonagall was right, and Sirius was a bad influence on him after all!

The children often asked Mr Black why Mr Padfoot didn't come in with him, “You all live in the same house, don’t you Mr Black? The yellow one down the road from the park?”, asked Anna.

“We miss Mr Padfoot and Mr Lupin when they’re gone.” said Sean.

Mr Black told them that Mr Padfoot couldn't come to school as he was joining Mr Lupin on an adventure but he was sure that they’d tell everyone all about it when they got back. Now, hurry up and get finished with those sums and we can move on to music practice, he would say!

When Mr Lupin and his faithful companion returned to school a few days later Mr Lupin rewarded the children with a tale of their visit to a magical school with hidden passageways and moving staircases, and a hair-raising story of how they battled a giant squid in the lake. You see, the squid insulted Mr Padfoot’s stick catching prowess and Mr Padfoot bravely went into the water to fight him and nip at his tentacles. However, this lead to Mr Lupin having to go in and save Mr Padfoot who was losing the fight, being a land dog rather than a water dog. Mr Lupin caught his sleeve on a rock and got a nasty scratch and that’s why he had a new bandage on his wrist, but it was worth it to save his best dog. Mr Padfoot looked at him indignantly, and one of the children swore that she saw him roll his eyes, but Mr Lupin told her not to be silly, dogs don't do that kind of thing, not even special ones like Mr Padfoot.

One day Aisling, one of the more bold and curious children, asked Mr Lupin why he has so many scars. He thought for a moment and then told her that he collects them with Mr Padfoot when they’re out having their monthly adventures. He pointed out certain scars and began to tell the children stories of how he got them. The one from his thumb to his wrist was from hunting sharks, the one on his cheek was from wrestling a bear. He made sure to let the children know that he and Mr Padfoot were professionals who trained very hard at Adventure School, so they shouldn’t think about trying it for themselves. When the children started to make noises of complaint, Mr Lupin assured them that if they tried really hard in class and learned all of their times tables then when they were a bit older maybe they'd be able to go to Adventure School too. The children were quite enthusiastic about maths for the next few days, funnily enough, until their attention was caught by something else.

After a busy day at school once they were home and fed and relaxing together on the couch, Sirius often thought back over the past and the things that changed from their lives the first time round. Instead of Azkaban and living hand to mouth, summer holidays were spent lazing around in the garden where Remus discovered his green fingers. Sunny afternoons were spent with Padfoot romping on the beach while the local children and summertime tourists delighted in throwing balls and sticks for him to catch. 

Instead of living in the same tiny cell, tormented by Dementors, and squatting in abandoned homes, too poor to eat regularly Remus and Sirius headed over to Godric’s Hollow for Harry’s birthday every July, and the Potters spent their Augusts in Ireland. When baby Lettie came along in November 1985 Remus and Sirius were ecstatic to be uncles again. Harry promised that he’d be the best big brother in the world, and it’s safe to say that he did a pretty good job. Remus and Sirius were there with James and Lily to wave Harry and then Lettie off to Hogwarts at King’s Cross every year where James and Sirius would regale them with tales of their own Hogwarts exploits while Lily and Remus looked on fondly. Harry met Hermione on the train and was sorted into Gryffindor with her and his good friend Ron and their story began there. Hufflepuff was proud to receive its first Potter in 150 years when young Lettie arrived, and under the holiday-time tutelage of Ron’s big brothers Fred and George (who recognised great talent when they saw it) she carried on the great marauder tradition of getting up to no good with her friends.

On 18th June 1996 Remus threw Sirius a surprise party at their home. Nobody really knew why and Remus and Sirius certainly didn't tell them, but any excuse for a party, eh? Remus wanted to mark the date that Sirius fell through the veil and, from what Sirius told him, changed their lives for the better. They spent a wonderful evening celebrating and dancing and laughing with friends and family, including Sirius’s cousin Nymphadora who kept on giving Remus the eye, much to Sirius’s amusement. Remus, of course, was oblivious, too busy dancing a very dramatic tango with Lily and chasing Lettie around the garden (he was the big bad wolf, and she was little red riding hood, you see!). 

Sirius used the knowledge from his first life sparingly, although he made sure to use it for what was important. He told Dumbledore everything that he knew about Voldemort’s return, so Dumbledore was able to dissuade Professor Quirrell from going in search of Voldemort, the Chamber of Secrets remained closed, and Mad Eye Moody was well prepared for an attack from Barty Crouch Jnr. He didn’t know about the horcruxes, so that’s a whole other story for another time, but in the end together the Order destroyed them and Harry came back safe. Remus and Sirius and James and Lily got to see him grow up and marry Ginny and have children of his own. Lettie insisted that she didn’t need a man in her life, and no one was surprised when she settled down with Neville and Hannah’s daughter Alice.

If we fast forward quite a few years you’ll see that Remus and Sirius happily grew old together. Mr Lupin retired after teaching generations of children, and could often be seen walking out in the village with his big old dog, but no one ever saw Mr Black walk the dog, how strange! The villagers still gossiped about them sometimes - today it was Mary and Orla that they passed, chatting on the park bench during their lunch break.

Mary gave Orla a nudge and nodded over towards Remus and Padfoot. “Why do Mr Lupin and Mr Black keep rehoming big black dogs, don't they all look so similar?”

“Surely it's not the same one, that's just not possible,” said Orla, “Do you remember that dog that he used to bring to school when we were kids?”

“Mr Padfoot, yeah! He was a great dog.” Mary took a big bite out of her sandwich, thinking back to those long-gone school days, her head filling with happy memories.

Remus and Padfoot overheard as they shuffled past and glanced at each other and just smiled.

“Mary, did you see that? Did Mr Lupin’s dog just smile?”

And they lived happily ever after. Truly.


End file.
